Strained relations with Australia as Indonesia votes
As Indonesia prepares for presidential elections in July, questions are being raised over what the new Indonesian leader's attitude will be to relations with Australia.
There are also concerns in Australia over how the new President may deal with human rights issues.
The election in July will mark an end to the ten-year leadership of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
He's been a strong supporter of good relations with Australia, but it's unclear what position his likely successor will take.
Towards the end of his final term in office, Australia-Indonesia relations have been damaged by revelations in November that Australia had spied on the president and his inner circle back in 2009.
Bilateral relations have also taken a hit over Australia's asylum-seeker boat turn-backs, and territorial breaches of Indonesian waters by the Australian Navy.
Doctor Clinton Fernandes is an Associate Professor in International and Political Studies at University New South Wales.
He compares Australia-Indonesia relations to those of Australia and New Zealand.
"For them domestic matters are key. We think quite a bit about Indonesia - at least our policy makers do - where for us Indonesia is so important but whereas Indonesia doesn't think Australia's so important. It's not the critical factor. It's a little bit analogous to the relationship between New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand foreign policy makers are intensely concerned about what Australia is doing whereas we don't seem to think very much about New Zealand at all."
The front-running candidates in the presidential election are Prabowo Subianto from GERINDRA, the Great Indonesian Movement Party, and the Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDIP.
Rafendi Djamin, is Indonesia's representative on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.
He says none of the main candidates have focused on foreign policy during campaigning.
"Unfortunately the Indonesian debate during the election process among the candidates or the proponents of the candidates, they're not really going to the issue relating to foreign policy. And that includes the bilateral relations with Australia or with any other country. Something that is lacking in our democracy at this time is the debate between the competitors of the candidates is not really about a substance, the program, the policies, but it is more about who is actually more powerful."
According to recent opinion polls, the PDIP's Joko Widodo is the favourite to become the next Indonesian president.
Human rights groups in Australia say they'd be concerned if victory goes instead to GERINDRA's Prabowo Subianto, a former commander of the army's notorious special forces who stands accused of a range of human rights abuses.
The Australian groups say human rights issues should feature more prominently in Australia's approach to Indonesia.
They're critical of what they call short-sighted policies focusing on refugees, asylum seekers and towing back boats.
Elaine Pearson is the Director of Human Rights Watch Australia.
She says more clarity is needed on how Indonesia will use almost $87-million promised by Australia over the next three years to help manage asylum seekers.
"With that money, I think we'd like to know a bit more details about exactly how it's going to be spent. I think it would be of great concern if that money is simply going to go towards manning more detention centres in Indonesia. However if the money is going to be used to run shelters for instance for the high number of unaccompanied minors and children, running schools because children don't have access to go to schools while they're waiting for their asylum claims to be determined, then certainly I think those things would be positive moves."
Doctor Clinton Fernandes from the University New South Wales claims the Australian aid to Indonesia is to solve a political problem for Australia.
"The reason that Indonesia is getting the funding is simply that most asylum seekers are transiting through Indonesia in order to get to Australia and so in order to not burden Indonesia with the cost and to make it more politically acceptable to them to move in our direction in terms of policy, we're basically funding the entire operation."
The Indonesian presidential elections will be held on the 9th of July.
To be elected president, a candidate must win 50 per cent of the national vote and 20 per cent of the vote in more than half of the 34 provinces.
If no candidate wins an absolute majority in the July vote, there will be a second round in September.
Posted by: "Sunny" <ambon@tele2.se>
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